Qantas uses its own AI to flag the turnarounds most likely to cause delays
Qantas has built its own AI tool to score how complex each aircraft turnaround will be, so its integrated operations centre in Sydney can step in before a delay spreads through the schedule. Chief executive Vanessa Hudson credits AI with contributing to better punctuality. Qantas has not said how much of the gain the tool accounts for.
The operating picture
Seeing the difficult turnarounds coming
Qantas Airbus A330 VH-EBA at SYD, Dec 2025. Photograph: DaHuzyBru / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped to fit). Illustrates the airline, not an AI deployment.
Qantas recorded 77.2% of arrivals on time in 2025, ahead of Virgin Australia and Jetstar, the Sydney Morning Herald reported in March 2026. Hudson told the paper that AI in the integrated operations centre tracks departures and picks out flights that need closer management.
The airline's wider AI use includes Airbus Skywise Predictive Maintenance, adopted by Qantas and Jetstar in 2024, and AI tools that scan procurement contracts at headquarters. In December 2025 it gave QantasLink chief executive Rachel Yangoyan the new role of chief technology, AI and transformation officer.
Selected implementations
The work behind the evidence
01 / Deployed
A complexity score for every turnaround
The operational problem
A turnaround that runs late pushes delay onto every later flight that aircraft and its crew operate. Controllers have limited time to decide which turnarounds need extra attention.
What the evidence reports
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 16 March 2026 that Qantas uses an internally developed AI tool to assess the complexity of aircraft turnarounds. It weighs variables including weather, crew transition requirements and load factors, allowing the operations centre to act on likely disruption before it reaches the wider flying schedule. Hudson said AI "has been a key part of contributing to improved on-time performance this year for Qantas."
Operational significance
The tool works on the inputs that controllers already juggle, and turns them into an early ranking of risk. That puts it at the centre of decisions on the day of operation, where gains show up directly in punctuality.
Evidence still needed
Qantas has not published how the tool works, how accurate its scores are, or how much of the punctuality improvement it accounts for. The reporting does not say whether it covers international as well as domestic flying.
A source can verify an announcement without verifying its projected outcome.
The wider register
Other tracked activity
Other records are shown separately, including non-AI technology and programmes at different stages of deployment. A register entry does not establish a measured AI benefit.
No other publicly listed records.
Editorial assessment
Qantas has put AI into the operations centre, the part of an airline where minutes are won or lost, and built the tool itself.
A measure of the tool's own contribution, separate from fleet renewal and other punctuality work, would show how much the AI is doing.
Live data from the Aerostack register. Status reflects published evidence only. See Our approach for how records are graded.
Aerostack register · 1 tracked deployment
Aerostack tracks AI deployments across airports and airlines, with the published evidence behind each record. Photography is real aviation imagery. Record thumbnails may show the named airport or airline; other photographs do not.
